Laminated bent-wood spoke



Jan. 13. 1925. 1,522,588

, c. H. KENRICK LAMINATED BENT WOOD SPOKE Filed May '7, 1924 @www @ttor Wag 1 UNITED STATES PATE,

CHARLES -I. KENRICK, F GNANAY, MICHIGAN.

LAMINATE BENT-WOO@ SPGKE.

Application filed May 7,

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that nien, residing` at State of Michigan, h

a citizen of the Oneway, Presque Isle County,

, CHARLES H. KEN- United States, and

ave invented certain new and useful improvements in Laminated Bent-Vilood'Spokes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to steering wheels for inotor vehicles of that type in which the spokes are composed of wood and are longitudinally curved transversely of the plane of the rini between their ends and in which the upper termediate portion is and lower surfaces at the ends are in substantially parallel planes and the inat an angle to these planes, being connected thereto by curved portions.

lt is particularly adapted for use in that type of wheel in which the inner end portionso-f the sp okes are laterally enlarged and form integral parts of a wooden hub portion as is disclosed and claimed in the applicants patent, No. 1,434,616, granted November Y, 1922,

with various other types of wheels,

stance those having a but it may also be used for ininetallic hub portion such as disclosed in the applicants cepending application, Serial No. 711,47

May 6, 1924.

4l, filed Heretofore it has been the usual practice when making wheels of the type described to form each spoke of a single piece of wood cut in such a manner as far as possible as to have the grain follow the axis of the spoke, but it has always resulted in a con` siderable portion of weakest pointof the quiring a larger piece cross grain at the spoke aside from reof wood than would be necessary if the spoke could be bent from one piece. Since a spo from the hub toward found that if it is formed by the wood is arranged to be the grain of ke tapers in thickness the rim it has been bending and parallel to either the upper or the lower surface of the spoke then one of the curved portions will have the grain ending` on the sur face so that there is a the layers of wood to split away, surface roughened and If the grain of the wood is made weakened.

ldecided tendency for leaving the the spoke very much parallel to the axis of the spoke, then this condition exists on bo th surfaces since the spoke is bent in two directions.

It is an object of a bent wood spoke for this invention to provide steering wheels which 19243:e Serial N0. 711,725.

tapers from the hub toward the rin'i and in which the grain of the wood is parallel to and follows both the upper and lower surfaces of the spoke.

lt is another object of this invention to provide a laminated bent wood spoke for wood steering wheels in which the grain of the wood near the upper and lower surfaces is at all times parallel to those surfaces.

ln the drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan view of the spoke constructed according to this invention;

Figure 2 is a side elevation; and

Figure 3 is a plan view of a steering wheel showing the spokes in position.

The figures disclose a wheel constructed according to the ienrick patent mentioned previously in this application, although as explained, the type of spoke according to this invention is suitable for use in any wood spoke steeringwheel in which great strength and freedom from splitting is desired. The drawings disclose a spoke 10 which tapers from the hub portion 11 to the rini engaging portion 12 both in thickness and in width andA in which the upper and lower surfaces of the portions 11 and 12 are substantially parallel to each other and to the plane of the rim and in which the intermediate portion 13 is at an angle to the end portions, there being thus produced a pair of opposite bends 14 and 15 on the outer curvatures and which there would be a tendency for the wood to separate were there any of the layers of grain coming to the surface at these places.

As shown in Figure 2 a spoke according to this invention is formed of two separate pieces of wood glued together along a surface 15 mid-way between the upper and lower surfaces of the spoke. Each of the two pieces of wood forming a spoke is cut from a board in such a manner that the surface thereof which will forni one of the outer surfaces of the spoke has the grain parallel to this surface, whereas that surface which will receive the glue and be adjacent to the inner surface of the other piece of the spoke is tapered so that the grain runs out on this surface.

Each portion of the spoke is bent to approximately the desired shape by any of the well known processes of wood bending, and the two parts are then glued 'together and placed in a press which maintains theni lll) in the proper shape until the glue has dried and the spokes are then suiiiciently rigid to retain their shape when released.

After the spoke has been formed to its particular curvature as described above, it may be reduced to its finished form by the usual wood working processes, the corners being rounded off and the whole spoke given a contour having a pleasing appearance without unnecessarily sacrificing the strength thereof.

It will be readily understood that if it is desirable a spoke may be formed of more than two parts, or in other words there may be a central core made up of any desired number of pieces and having the requisite tapered form over which may be placed strips of wood having the grain at all times parallel to the outer surface of the spoke, thus producing the same effect as that obtained by the use of two pieces of wood but resulting in a further saving of material by allowing the use of smaller pieces such as the scraps obtained during the process of forming the rim portions etc.

Spokes formed according to this invention have the maximum strength possible to give a wooden spoke of the same size and shape, since at no place throughout the length of the spoke does the grain run across the secltion of the spoke, resulting thus in a spoke having no points of weakness and in which the possiblity of splitting is'practically entirely overcome. At the same time the spoke is given a pleasing appearance due to the peculiar disposition of the outer grain, and the upper and lower surfaces areperma` nently insured against roughening due to any raising of the grain.

signature.

While but one embodiment of thisv invention has been disclosed, it is `to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to this particular modification but only by the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention what l claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A spoke for steering wheels, tapered in thickness from hub section to rim section and comprising two pieces of wood, `each tapered in thickness and having the grain parallel to one surface thereof.

2. A spoke for steering wheels, tapered in thickness from hub section to rim section and curved throughout substantially its full length, comprising two taperedpieces of wood, each having the grain parallel to one surface, fastened together along the medial surface of said spoke and having the surfaces to which the grain is parallel on the outside.

A two piece, wood spoke fo-r steering wheels, tapered in thicknessfiom one end to the other and having the grain of the wood on each side of the medial line parallel to the upper and lower surfaces throughout the length of the spoke.

t. A spoke for steering wheels having hub and rim sections in separated parallel planes, said sections being connected byr a curved portion tapered in thickness throughout its length, said spoke being formed of a lurality of strips of wood so that the grain of Vthe wood at and near the upper and lower surfaces of the spokeV is parallelrespectively to said surfaces.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiiX my cHARLEs H. KENRICK. 

